We will waste what Gaza achieved: The West is not a “one bloc”!

Berlin Cathedral in Germany, where the secular position of the Church differs from one country to another (Getty)

“They are not the same.” Two words that sum up the law of natural diversity within any “ethnic/racial,” “religious/sectarian,” or “ideological/political” group! According to “black and white”, we do not see the gray area and the gradation of colors between them.

On top of that is another “legacy” related to “power relations” and political doctrines that have been inherited for centuries in the countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean... which reduce the nation to the person of the leader/president: “I am the nation/I am the state/I am the people,” whatever its identity. Or her name.

These are two legacies that have influenced, perhaps not directly, the Arab peoples’ view of the Western world’s position - despite its diversity and breadth - regarding the Israeli war on Gaza, and the consequences that may result from it that may waste many gains in this context.

Western secularism

We must stress - here - that the West is not a concrete bloc with one coat of paint, even in its details that come after the big headlines that talk about “separation of religion from the state,” for example.

Western secularism is not the same: Germany's secularism, "the symbolic presence of Christianity/the Church as a moral and ethical reference," is radically different from France's "extremist laicism," which is hostile to everything that has religious symbolism, except for a margin that tolerates official holidays on Christian holidays.

While British secularism is close to the spirit founded by the English “agnostic” George Jacob Holyoke (1817-1906), which settled on abandoning the hostile tendency toward religion and standing at the same distance from all religions.

On the other hand, American secularism is based on the principle of “equality of opposites in one soul,” while invoking biblical stories to root what they believe to be a “nation chosen” by God!

Even Western modernity is still a subject of public debate, and there is no agreement on the date of its emergence, nor on its content (its terminological and dynamic meaning)... It is loose, ambiguous, confused, and fluid to an extent that cannot - under any circumstances - be measured by any objective criteria.

There are those who trace its origins to Gutenberg's invention of the movable printing press in 1436, while others believe that it began with the "Lutheran" protests against the authority of the church in 1520, while a third group suggests that it was born with the two revolutions: the American in 1776, and the French in 1789.

A minority rejects all of these efforts, and points out that they only began with the appearance of Freud's book, "The Interpretation of Dreams."

It also means a wide "mosaic" of different groups, sects, and doctrines (Hegel, Max Weber, Descartes, La Patens, Roland Barthes, Marx, and Emile Dor Chaim), which are multiple, disparate, conflicting, and different "modernities" and not a single "modernity."

Fifth power

At the same time, no sober observer can ignore the existence of a “fifth power”, outside the official policies (governments) in Western countries (civil society), which confronts the brutality of the state and its infringement on human rights: the state in Europe - and in its natural extension, “the United States.” “The American Society” - is not reduced to a single bloc... and to the symbolism of the “president”... Rather, the trends of public opinion within civil society are listed on the priorities of the decision-makers’ agenda... The official political decision may retreat, in response to pressure from parties and organized political forces, or what is outside of it. Regulatory frameworks, depending on their demands.

For example, France was not "in its civil nature" alone regarding its colonization of Algeria: the "extreme" French left of Trotskyists, anarchists and pornists supported the Algerian revolution, demanding Algeria's liberation and independence.

While the French left, represented by the Socialist Party and the Communist Party, was hesitating between the right of the Algerian people to self-determination and keeping Algeria linked to France!!

Perhaps it is important to point out the left-wing French-Jewish journalist Henri Allaq - born in 1920 - one of the most prominent French figures who played a major role in educating international public opinion about the tragedy of Algeria and its right to self-determination.

He was expelled, imprisoned, tortured, and sentenced to ten years in prison to silence him. He chose the title “Allaq,” which is the nickname of an Algerian Muslim family, during the period of his struggle, and it remained with him throughout his life.

Likewise, the United States of America was not “one” with regard to the war in Vietnam. Rather, solid civil forces were formed that rejected it, and they matured with the passage of time and accumulation, until they led to a populist social movement that expanded steadily, and by 1970, only a third of Americans believed that The United States did not make a mistake by sending troops to fight in Vietnam.

It ended with the final withdrawal of American forces, after the Paris Peace Agreement in 1973.

One of the striking ironies in this context is what was recorded by “The New York Times” and its interweaving of the past of “Vietnam” and the present of “Gaza” now... as it said in a report: “The anti-war movement in Vietnam was overwhelmingly white, like most universities in the sixties. However, "Universities in 2023, especially in urban areas, have many more students of color, many of whom show sympathy for the situation of Palestinians, as a population under siege under the control of a larger and more powerful force. Non-students also make up the bulk of the protesters today."

Media technologies

After almost half a century, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge, and the forces of influence and public opinion-making have moved from the grip of “authority” to cyberspace. Governments no longer monopolize alone the tools to reshape awareness in a way that matches their vision of events, and the platforms that broadcast the facts on air have multiplied. Direct “governmental” or “civilian” channels and private “YouTube” channels, with which any country can no longer cover up its crimes against others.

The war on Gaza came, in conjunction with this massive shift in social media technologies, to restructure Western public/civil opinion and its view of the Palestinian issue. The divisions between Western peoples and their governments over this issue deepened, and the image of the West appeared to be fragmented - for the first time - to such an extent. Clarity: Governments supported the aggression on Gaza, and others opposed it, while the geography of the pro-Palestinian populist West and anti-Tel Aviv expanded, reaching the point that more than five million demonstrators participated in major cities in Europe and North America, in one day during the first week of the month of Ramadan. November 2023, according to neutral and unofficial media estimates.

Therefore, we must beware of the “frenzy” of criticizing the West - as a whole without discrimination or awareness - and attacking its political experience, with all its “accessories” of democracy, the peaceful transfer of power, freedom of opinion and expression, and the like... because of the “political hypocrisy” of its ruling regimes that are moving As a "tail" of the United States of America... authoritarian countries can exploit this Western "official hypocrisy" to convince their people - especially the poor and the less educated and cultured - not to trust "democracy" as a tool to restore meaning and dignity to humans, and to elevate their will and right to choose and name their political leaders. .

This trend - the campaign against the West as a single bloc - will waste what Gaza has achieved in terms of the “unity of human values” shared by the world, which made the Western peoples the most mobile, most energetic, and most out in the streets.

Rejecting the massacres and war of extermination to which the Palestinians are subjected in the Gaza Strip... and which culminated in the most important event: the dragging of “Tel Aviv” to “The Hague” as a pariah state and persecuted by the international judiciary.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.